A wireless network includes at least two network nodes sending and receiving data therebetween on a certain wireless channel. One such wireless network is a mobile mesh network that may or may not be connected to a network outside of the mesh network. Typically, the mesh network will include many more than two nodes, referred to as mesh points, which may be spread out over a large area. The mesh network is not necessarily fully connected. In general, mesh points in the network communicate over a single channel or some subset of available channels. In order to maintain all communicating mesh points on the same channel or subset of channels, the operator selects a channel and configures all mesh points with the same channel.
In typical network scenarios, some channels are less desirable for a number of reasons such as interference, signal quality, or the presence or susceptibility to radar interference. Some mesh points perform dynamic frequency selection where the presence of radar on a particular frequency is detected and a different frequency is chosen. The new frequency may be elected based on a tie-breaking method where the elected channel may not necessarily be the best channel, but is one that was chosen through an arbitrary or sub-optimal process.
As a result, it is desirable to provide a mechanism for mesh points to select a new channel based on known excluded channels in the network. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.